About Us

non scholae sed vitae discimus – we do not learn for school, but for life

Willington Independent Preparatory School, based in the heart of Wimbledon, has a long and proud history of providing an exemplary education for boys aged between 4 and 13. It is an environment where each of our boys is supported individually in order to realise his full potential and promise. Outstanding academic and extra-curricular opportunities exist here and tolerance, compassion, courtesy, charity and friendship permeate the daily life of all our boys.

The school was originally located in Putney at No 3 Dealtry Road, before moving to Willington House on the Upper Richmond Road in 1889. Founded by Annie and Ada Hale, who were sisters, the school had a keen focus on the individual, which remains a strong feature of the school's identity today. Whilst the school has moved from Putney to Wimbledon, and the proliferation of new subjects and technology would make some of Willington today a very different place to when it was first founded, the importance of care for each individual boy and helping him to fulfil his potential would be immediately recognisable to Willington staff from those early days of Victorian London.

We maintain a tradition of sending boys to leading independent senior schools, both day schools in London and Surrey, as well as boarding schools across the UK. We also continue to offer a wide provision beyond the regular curriculum, with the Waltzing lessons and Swedish Drill of our 1880s activities list being replaced by pursuits such as judo, fencing and triathlon, for example. We feel that a Willington boy is prepared for whatever the future may bring, as he does not learn simply to pass examinations, but to be ready for life beyond these walls. As our motto says: we do not learn for school, but for life.